Unitized packing device



Aug. 18, 1970 Q BUNDY 'ET AL 3,524,543 UNITIZED PACKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 30, 1968 FIG. 3

INVENTOR'S JAMES L. WILLIAMS ALBERT J. euuov ATTORNEYS United States Patent Oflice 3,524,543 Patented Aug. 18, 1970 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A packing device for supporting a plurality of boxes in a unitary pack comprising a harness adapted to be disposed between two adjacent boxes with portions extending both above and below the boxes, and support members connected to the portions of the harness disposed below the boxes for supporting the boxes thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention A This invention relates to a packing device and more particularly a device for supporting a plurality of boxes in a unitized pack.

Description of the prior art In the packaging and handling of sheet glass, it is the present practice to package a plurality of sheets in separate boxes and to then collect the boxes into packs for shipping. Presently, these packs are assembled onto an L buck or A frame or onto a skid, end cap or other similar device. In these constructions, the supporting devices are typically constructed in a standard size adapted to receive boxes of standard dimension. In the situation Where the glass sheets are of special size requiring special sized boxes, the supporting device has to be tailor made or the boxes must be handled individually.

With the devices presently available for handling packs of boxes, the cost involved in the manufacturing of the supporting devices and the handling of the packs makes it uneconomical to handle smaller sized packs containing less than twenty or so boxes. In addition, with the packing devices presently available, the assembled pack is generally restricted to being lifted from underneath by a lift truck and is not particularly suited for lifting from above. Also, since these packing devices are heavy and bulky they do not readily lend themselves to economic disposal by the customer; and if they are to be reused, rehandling and shipping costs are rather high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, there is provided a packing device of economical construction and one which can be used for lifting the unitized pack assembled thereon from either above or below. In construction, the lifting device includes a harness adapted to be disposed between two adjacent boxes forming the pack. The harness is constructed of wire and has a looped section extending above the pack and two looped yoke sections extending below the pack. Each of the yoke sections receives a supporting member extending transversely of the yoke member and upon which the individual boxes of the pack are adapted to be disposed in side by side relationship. With the boxes supported in this manner, a suitable strapping is used to hold the boxes together and to hold them on the supporting members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the packing device assembled for reception of a plurality of boxes thereon;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the harness of the lifting device;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of one support member and an associated protector part of the packing device;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the packing device with a unitized pack assembled and held thereon; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the packing device showing an alternative arrangement of the boxes thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. 1, the packing device includes a triangular shaped harness member 1, support members 2 extending through the lower sections of the harness, and corner protectors 3 disposed between the harness and support members. The harness itself is constructed of a single length of wire which is bent into the triangular configuration shown in FIG. 2 with the ends joined together along its central bottom section 4 by a conventional wire wrapping machine. The upper extending legs 5 and 6 of the harness together with the central bottom section 4 give the harness member its triangular configuration. The legs 5 and 6 form a loop 7 at the top of the harness. In addition, the legs 5 and 6 extend below the central section 4 intermediate its length and are then looped outwardly to form yokes 8 and 9. These yokes are disposed below the bottom section 4.

Cooperating with the wire harness are the support members 2. These support members are advantageously comprised of wooden boards and are positioned in the yokes 8 and 9 of the harness as shown in FIG. 1. The width of the support members is made slightly larger than the bottom legs of the yokes so that the wire of the legs 5 and 6 of the harness will cut into the wood to lock it into position within the yokes.

Before positioning the support members in the yokes, the corner protectors 3 are secured centrally thereto by nailing or other suitable means. The corner protectors are L-shaped and have a corrugated surface. In assembled relationship with the harness, the outer legs of the yokes 8 and 9 are disposed within one of the grooves of the corrugations of the corner protectors to further assist in holding the parts against relative movement. The upper legs of the yokes 8 and 9 of the harness which in turn define part of the central bottom section 4 thereof, extend over the top of the corner protectors as shown in FIG. 1.

In utilizing the packing device as assembled into the structure shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of square cornered boxes 10 containing sheets of glass are positioned on the support members 2 on opposite sides of the harness. The boxes are assembled into a unitized pack by placing them in side by side relationship on either side of the harness as shown in FIG. 4. The outer portions of the boxes rest on the underlying support members 2 while the harness 1 extends upwardly through the unitized pack between two adjacent boxes. The harness is disposed in balance relationship by placing it between two centrally adjacent boxes where an even number of boxes are to be assembled. If any uneven number of boxes or boxes of different weight are to be assembled, the harness is placed so as to balance the weight on either side thereof as near as possible. The boxes, in addition to being positioned on their ends as shown in FIG. 4, may be laid horizontally on the support members 2 in the arrangement as shown in FIG. 5.

To complete the unitized packs shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, suitable strapping 11 is tied around the assembled boxes to retain them on the support members of the lifting device. The strapping may be made of steel wire, plastic strands, tape or other materials that will draw the boxes tightly together so as to create friction on their adjacent sides and prevent them from shifting. This friction may be increased by using rough sided boxes, glue or other suitable means that will induce friction and retard slippage. The configuration of the strapping may be varied as long as it is applied in a manner which will hold the boxes together and on the supports of the packing device. Two configurations of suitable strapping arrangements are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper loop section 7 of the harness extends centrally above the top surface of the pack while the lower yoke sections 8 and 9 extend below the pack at opposite sides thereof. This configuration of the harness and its orientation in the pack enables the pack to be lifted from above by attaching the hook of a crane to the exposed loop 7. The triangular shape of the harness with the loop 7 extending centrally above the top of the pack and the support members 2 disposed in the yokes located on the opposite sides of the pack provides stability as the pack is lifted from above. In addition, the tie or joint of the harness ends along the central section 4, which is the weakest point of the harness, is not only protected from damage but is subjected to minimal stress since it is disposed in a horizontal position inside the pack. Accordingly, a lighter gauge wire can be used safely in the interest of the economy and ease of forming.

Although the harness serves as a lifting agent when the pack is lifted from above, the weight of the pack is actually lifted from the bottom outside corners by the supports 2. This prevents damage to the boxes that might otherwise occur if the actual lifting of the weight were effected through the sides or top of the boxes as would be the case where hooks are used for grasping the boxes directly.

The support members 2 in addition to serving as lifting agents when the pack is lifted from above also function to elevate the pack. Accordingly, a bottom lifting device such as a freight transporter, high lifting truck or other similar device can easily be inserted under the pack for purposes of lifting it from below when it is desired to move it from one location to another.

With the unitized pack employing the packing device of the present invention, several distinct advantages, in addition to those already discussed, are provided. First of all, the strapping used for securing the individual boxes together is used for that purpose only and not for any secondary purpose. This overcomes problems present with conventional arrangements where the strap-pings are used both for compressively holding the individual boxes together and for lifting purposes. Where this is done, the strapping inherently tends to stretch when used in lifting the weight of the pack. This in turn works to disadvantage in that it lessens the tightness with which the boxes are held together under compression. As soon as the lifting of the pack is complete and the strapping released, it then remains loose about the pack. Also, since the strapping in the pack utilizing the packing device of the present invention serves only the purpose for which it is intended, the pack may be easily opened by simply severing the strapping without in any way destroying the packing device. Thus, the packing device may be readily reused if desired. In addition, the packing device of the present invention requires no exposed packaging ele ments or extraneous materials surrounding the pack. The absence of such material permits one pack to be set directly adjacent to or on top of another pack for loading, shipping and/or storage. When the packs are set on top of each other, the exposed loop 7 of the harness readily bends but is still usable for subsequent lifting. The elimination of any extraneous packing material also permits more efficient use of storage space, prevents damage to one pack by the adjacent material of another pack, eliminates bracing or dunnage otherwise required in shipping, and generally eliminates interference with the lifting of the pack.

The packing device of the present invention is also quite versatile as far as the number and types of boxes it can hold. The harness and strapping can be conformed for use with any size pack or any reasonable number of boxes. The pack can be laid horizontally in storage or stood vertically. Further, the pack has a built in safety feature in that if the wood of the boxes shrinks through drying or otherwise and a looseness therefor develops in the strapping, the harness and the lifting function it provides is not affected.

The above description of the present invention has been made with reference to the preferred embodiment; however, it is to be understood that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A packing device for supporting a plurality of boxes in a unitary pack comprising:

(a) a harness adapted to be disposed between two adajcent boxes of said pack, said harness having:

(1) a first loop section adapted to extend centrally above the pack between said two adjacent boxes, and (2) second and third yoke sections adapted to extend below said pack at opposite sides thereof; and

(b) first and second support members disposed on the second and third yoke sections, respectively, of said harness for supporting the boxes of said pack thereon.

2. A packing device as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

(a) said harness is constructed of a single length of wire bent into a generally triangular configuration with two legs of the triangle meeting to form said first loop and bent outwardly at the other ends thereof into said second and third yoke sections with the terminal portions of said wire extending from said yoke sections toward each other to define the third leg of the triangle disposed above said yoke sections.

3. A packing device as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

(a) said support members locate the boxes positioned thereon at a level spaced above the lowermost portion of said harness.

4. A packing device as set forth in claim 3 wherein:

(a) the terminal ends of the wire are joined together intermediate the ends of the third leg of said triangle for positioning internally of said pack.

5. A packing device as set forth in claim 4 further including:

(a) an L-shaped protector member disposed in each of said yoke sections and attached to the associated support member for holding the third leg of said triangle and the joint therein above the support members.

6. A packing device as set forth in claim 5 wherein:

(a) one leg of each of said protector members is disposed horizontally aaginst the underneath surface of the associated support member and the other leg is disposed vertically outwardly of the support member whereby the boxes positioned on the support members will be located between the opposite protector members and in engagement therewith to prevent their bending upon stressing of the harness therearound.

7. A unitized pack of boxes comprising:

(a) a packing device having:

(1) a harness disposed between two adjacent boxes of said pack, said harness having:

(i) a first loop section extending centrally above the pack between said two adjacent boxes, and

(ii) second and third yoke sections extending below said pack at opposite sides thereof, and

(2) first and second support members disposed 5 6 on the second and third yoke sections, respecyoke sections toward each other to define the third tively, of said harness and supporting the boxes leg of the triangle disposed above said yoke sections. of said pack thereon; and (3) strapping secured around said pack to hold References Cited the boxes together on said packing device, said strapping being secured independently o f said 959 677 5/1910 Wright harness. n 8. A unitized pack as set forth in claim 7 wherein: 3203726 8/1965 Smith 294 74 (a) said harness is constructed of a single length of JOSEpH R LECLAIR Primary Examiner wire bent into a generally triangular configuration 10 with two legs of the triangle meeting to form said 2 CASKIE Asslstant Examiner first loop and bent outwardly at the other ends there- 1 of into said second and third yoke sections with the 294 67 74 c terminal portions of said wire extending from said T UNITED STATES PATENTS 

